After securing a 3-1 win over Alabama on Friday, the Mississippi State soccer team was undone by a late goal in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Auburn.State produced a fine second half display Friday evening to overcome Alabama at the MSU soccer field.
After an open but scoreless first half, Treena Ferguson’s strike shortly after the restart broke the deadlock. Alabama’s Kelly King equalized in the 75th, but goals from freshmen Lauren Host and Leanna Baldner secured the win for the Bulldogs in the final six minutes.
Despite State’s early dominance, it was Alabama who produced the first real scoring opportunity. Jamie Zimmerman’s corner in the 13th minute found Danielle Bernier, whose firm header hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced on the line before being collected by MSU goalkeeper Taryn Holland.
Just two minutes after the start of the second half, Ferguson struck for the Bulldogs. After receiving the ball from midfield, she cut inside her defender and unleashed a long range shot that found the top corner for her sixth goal of the season.
The goal broke State’s three game scoring duck and was the first Alabama had conceded in more than 537 minutes of play.
Lauren Host’s 15-yard strike to the top corner nine minutes later restored the lead, as the freshman collected her first goal of the season on an assist from Meredith Jacobson.
With seconds left in the game, State extended its lead. Katelyn Graben raced in from the right after beating the opposing fullback and cut the ball back for Baldner to scramble it across the line from close range.
“I was very happy with the way we played,” head coach Neil MacDonald said. “I thought we put in 90 minutes of hard work. The first half in particular we did a great job of getting our left and right back into play. We dominated the possession tonight and I thought we deserved to win.”
Sunday’s game saw State just lose out to Auburn, with Caitlin King scoring the game’s only goal in the last five minutes.
The game, played in the early afternoon heat, was a much less open affair as the teams only managed six shots on goal between each other.
State’s first real chance of the game came after 18 minutes as Treena Ferguson turned to fire just wide of the far post from 20 yards.At the other end, King found herself wide open following a corner kick to head over the bar.
With ten minutes left in the half, Holland pulled off a double save to preserve the deadlock.
The Bulldogs went close once more before the half ended, with Ferguson just failing to contact fully with her close-range shot after being put through on goal.
Ferguson threatened again soon after the restart when her shot was smothered by the onrushing Whitworth.
Holland saved well from Chelsea Yauch’s header, and then collided with the post to clear the resulting corner. After a couple minutes of stopped play, the keeper was able to continue.
King’s goal in the 86th minute came against the run of play, as her speculative shot from 25 yards caught out Holland to give the Tigers a 1-0 win.